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Wow our competitive season is already over!! We don't focus on project as much anymore, but we are still discovering new ways to make our project more accessible for the general public. A few months ago our district's Network and Computer Services Directer, Mr. Thomas Tan, had invited us to a meeting to implement out solution in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District. The meeting will consist of the Caltech representatives, Cisco phone network staff, and the district Tech-People. We are still waiting up on that, as the meeting is still getting planned. This meeting will discuss the implementation of our project and solution about earthquakes alarm systems.
We have decided on our project problem but it is not yet 100% stabilized. Currently our innovative solution is using the early earthquake warning system to warn schools. We have contacted Ms. Chavez, Ms. Holmes, and the district safety office. We are also currently waiting for a reply from Ms. Horseman.
Hi Dani,
Below is the information from our Chief of Police bells are activated manually once the school is aware an earthquake occurred. Once activated the following procedures are in effect: EARTHQUAKE In the event of an earthquake: Give DROP AND COVER command. After shaking stops, check for injuries, and render first aid If ordered by Site Coordinator, evacuate. DO NOT return to building. DO NOT light any fires. Keep a safe distance from any downed power lines. Check attendance whether or not evacuation takes place. Report any missing students to Site Incident Commander. Stay alert for aftershocks. Site Incident Commander will issue further instructions. Inside Building: -Get under desk or table or other sturdy furniture with back to windows. -If not near any furniture, sit in a corner or with back against a wall with back to windows. - Drop to knees, clasp both hands behind neck, bury face in arms, make body as small as possible, close eyes, and cover ears with forearms. - If notebooks or jackets are handy, hold over head for added protection. -Stay away from windows, bookcases, or other heavy objects. - Maintain position until shaking stops. Outside Building: -Assume DROP AND COVER position in an open space. -Maintain position until shaking stops. -Move away from buildings, trees, overhead wires, and poles. -Do NOT enter building until it is determined to be safe. Tony Argott Chief of Police and Safety Hacienda La Puente Unified School District Hi Jojo,
Unfortunately, I don’t have a list of users of the Earthquake Early Warning system, so I can’t check to confirm if they have either a school or school district as a subscriber. I suggest you contact Ivan Henson at UC Berkeley at [email protected] and ask him, he should know. As to your question, ‘how does the alert system describe the earthquake’s varied intensities?’ -- well, our system estimates what the shaking intensity will be at your location and describes that shaking in terms of the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale, both as a number from 1 – 10+ (in roman numerals) and in descriptive words, from “Not Felt” to “Extreme Shaking”. Our alert system even tells you audibly what kind of shaking to expect, if any. From the picture I included below of an actual earthquake that occurred last month, you’ll see in the large box in lower left hand corner the “Expected Intensity” of II (roman numerals for “two”) and below that, the “Intensity Scale”, which defines an intensity of two as “weak”. You might also notice that the color of the “weak” box is purple and that the color purple dominates all the banners. So if you didn’t have the volume on and couldn’t hear the warning and you couldn’t read the large words, “Weak Shaking Expected”, you might know, just at a glance of the color, what kind of shaking to expect. So the display shows and tells you in many ways what the level of shaking is expected to be. As to your last question, it would be safe to assume that it would make little to no difference if the shaking information was sent to a notification device (like the kind you mentioned) as long as the location of the notification device and the Early Warning User’s location are the same. I hope this helps. Please email me if you have any more questions. Best of luck, Nick Scheckel Sen. Seismic Analyst/CISN Display Administrator Caltech Seismo Lab [email protected] office: (626) 395-6946 Hi JoJo,
I believe LAUSD EOC is testing it, but I’m not positive. I’ll check. As for the system, it gives an intensity based on projected accelerations on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (the objective instrumental version). The scale uses Roman numerals, from I – XII (we only go up to X+ though, because there’s not much difference between X and XII). As for the amount of warning, it depends on how far the event is. If it is right under them, they will not receive any warning. If it’s an event that generates say, at the Salton Sea, we will get more than 60 seconds of warning. I think that Alertus project only uses information from the one site you are at, and bases it on the P-wave (you will have to ask them for sure). We use a number of stations in all different locations further away. I hope this helps. Regards, Anthony Guarino Dear Mr. Guarino and Mr. Scheckel,
This is Jojo Liang from the Mesa Robles FLL Team #2375. On the behalf of my team, I am contacting you to ask for and confirm some information. First, I would like to ask whether if there are any school district/school based subscriber in the system. I understand that your customers’ information are confidential, but we do not need a specific name, but just a yes or a no for our project. We have decided, for our project topic,to attempt to improve schools' emergency (earthquake) alert system. We believe modifications can be made on our schools' alert system because the alarm rings after the earthquake occurs and are manually rung. Secondly, how do the alert systems that exist today describe earthquakes’ varied intensities of motion? Ultimately, subscribers usually get a 10~40 second warning before an earthquake hits their area, if I recall correctly. However would this be any different if this information was sent to a notification device similar of a current product Alert Beacon from Alertus (http://www.alertus.com/beacon)? Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Jojo Liang and the Team #2375 Oh, I see…well, I responded in red below:
In the HLPUSD district how are the earthquake bells rung during an emergency? If there was a catastrophic earthquake right now, how will the schools know to ring the earthquake bell? Will the district be sending out the information to the schools? Where will the district get the information from? How will the district distribute the information quickly? Is there a sensor or is it manually rung? For earthquakes, it should be pretty obvious that the earth is moving/shaking and things are trembling, and so all persons should duck/cover – once the initial shaking has occurred and is safe for staff, staff usually rings the bells. When the school clears all buildings, school staff makes sure structures are safe to re-enter. School officials communicate with district police. It is a coordinated effort, but district police would take the lead if there is a district wide issue. We communicate by radio. There is no sensor – bells are manually rung. Hope this helps! Frank Chang Principal Glen A. Wilson High School Hacienda La Puente USD 626.934.4400 626.855.3792 (Fax) http://www.hlpschools.org/wilson To Ms. Horseman,
Hello, I am Daniella Lee an eighth grader attending Mesa Robles Middle School. I am a member of Mesa Robles' First LEGO League team. First LEGO League is a robotics program designed to get children of all ages excited about science and technology using Lego Mindstorm Robot Kits. Every year there is a challenge topic released, the 2013-2014 challenge topic is 'Nature's Fury.' For the project, we need to choose a natural disaster that poses a problem in our community. Since we live near the San Andreas Fault, our team had decided to choose earthquakes. Our team is currently researching our project on earthquake alarm systems in our district. We have already talked to both our vice principals but are looking for more information. We tried to contact the district through the Police and Safety Office. We asked for their email address, but they wanted us to email it through our principal. We would like to contact them and ask them more information we are having trouble on. Thank you. Dear Daniella,
I’m very pleased to hear that you are researching how school’s keep children safe during natural disasters. =) I will try my best to answer your questions in this email, but feel free to come visit me and we talk in person. Your project is very important and I am happy to help in any way that I can. How are students alerted to emergencies? Ø We use bells to alert the whole school of any emergency. Ø There is a code we use that posted at every school site for the bells so everyone knows what to do. There is a specific code for fire, one for emergency, one for lock down. Ø Typically in an earthquake, because it happens suddenly, we cannot ring the bells to alert students that an earthquake is going to occur. However, after an earthquake has occurred it is important that everyone exit the buildings safely. So we ring the bells to alert staff and students that they must exit all buildings immediately and go to a safe designated area far from buildings. Teachers leave the doors open when they leave the classroom after an earthquake because it assists emergency teams in entering rooms. Is it manually rung? Ø We have fire alarms that will be triggered automatically if a sensor detects smoke or heat. Ø However lockdowns and earthquakes are typically manually rung, and usually followed by directions by the principal to ensure everyone is following the correct procedure. Is there a message sent from the district? Ø We get messages from the district regarding any kind of emergency or safety alert and we act on this information quickly. Ø Every school site was trained by the Police and Fire department to ensure that schools work with each other, have enough supplies in case of a natural disaster, have direct access to district police, have an emergency plan at each school site, and conduct regular drills to practice what to do in case of an emergency. I hope this information is helpful. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have. Good luck with the project, and I’m proud that you are learning about such an important topic. Rosette Holmes Assistant Principal Mesa Robles School 16060 Mesa Robles Drive Hacienda Heights, CA 91745 Phone: (626) 933-6004 |
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